Sheikh Hasina should be quiet till Bangladesh seeks extradition: Yunus

Bangladesh's Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus in an interview with PTI on Thursday attacked former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is seeking asylum in India, reports economictimes.

Younus, who is a Nobel laurate, said that the former prime minister had to keep quiet if India was to "keep her until Bangladesh wants her back". This comes after Hasina made political statements, which Yunus termed "unfriendly".

"No one is comfortable with her stance there in India because we want her back to try her. She is there in India and at times she is talking, which is problematic. Had she been quiet, we would have forgotten it; people would have also forgotten it as she would have been in her own world. But sitting in India, she is speaking and giving instructions. No one likes it," he said.

"Everyone understands it. We have said quite firmly that she should keep quiet. This is an unfriendly gesture towards us; she has been given shelter there and she is campaigning from there. It is not that she has gone there on a normal course. She has fled following a people's uprising and public anger," he added.

Yunus was referring to Hasina's statement on August 13 in which she demanded "justice", saying those involved in recent "terror acts", killings and vandalism must be investigated, identified and punished.

He added that India needed to move beyond narrative that frames everybody except Hasina as an Islamist. He said that Bangladesh would get her back as that is what the people wanted.

"Yes, she has to be brought back or else the people of Bangladesh won't be at peace. The kind of atrocities she has committed, she has to be tried in front of everyone here," he said.

Discussing the future of the India-Bangladesh relationship, Yunus expressed a desire for good ties with India but insisted that New Delhi must abandon the narrative that only Hasina's leadership ensures the country's stability._Agencies.